After this earth-shattering statement was made, Master Li Xiaojue keenly noticed that the entire Taiji Hall and the side halls seemed to have become even colder. This was also within his expectations. The rebellion in Yunnan had lasted for many years. Emperor Yuanfeng had originally won the world on horseback, and there was a tyranny in his blood. What he could not stand the most was that someone colluded behind his back to disrupt the morale of the army.
His attitude towards the rebels has always been very ruthless. Even when the natives in Yunnan resisted to the death, he never thought of listening to the conciliatory people.
How could such an emperor tolerate the eldest princess helping the rebel leader raise a child
No matter what the reason was, in the eyes of Emperor Yuanfeng, this was betrayal and there could be no other reason.
He noticed that Emperor Yuanfeng's gaze was on him, and his back tensed up even more. He didn't dare to move for a long time, waiting for Emperor Yuanfeng to react.
Emperor Yuanfeng stared at Master Li Xiaojue in silence for a long time before he said "oh" and asked in a rather cold tone, "Really? How did you get this news?"
His question was understated, but how to answer it was a real science.
Young Master Li had been brought up by Princess Mingchang and thought he had mastered the art of understanding people's hearts. When he heard Emperor Yuanfeng ask this, he said in an earnest tone, "It's because the woman I found spoke the Miao dialect of Yunnan and was very tricky and strange. After she came into contact with the county lady, I went to the Charity Hall to check on her and heard from the people there that she also had some strange medical skills..."
Young Master Li brought out the words he had memorized by heart, and said righteously: "Your Majesty, she has carefully made friends with the Su family, and has also been very close to Princess Yongning's residence. I am afraid that I dare not not report this to Your Majesty just because it involves my great-aunt..."
Emperor Yuanfeng smiled faintly. He sat on the dragon throne at the top, with a subtle scrutiny in his eyes. He said playfully, "Then you really have a plan. If, as you said, that woman is here to look for the remnants of the rebel leader, how can the Yongning Princess's Mansion harbor such a person?"
Emperor Yuanfeng did not fly into a rage as expected. Young Master Li felt somewhat uneasy subconsciously, and seeing that he was always so unhurried, he became somewhat annoyed - even if Princess Yongning was not favored, she was still the princess after all.
If Emperor Yuanfeng wanted to take action against his own blood relatives, he had to have sufficient evidence.
He underestimated the importance of Princess Yongning.
He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the people I sent to follow the woman came back and said that the woman said that because Prince Consort Tang was in Guizhou garrison before, he was very close to the chieftain of Yunnan at that time. The two of them were said to be sworn brothers. After the incident in Yunnan, he adopted the son of the rebel leader..."
"Nonsense!" Emperor Yuanfeng slapped the armrest, startling Master Li's right eyelid and twitching violently, and then asked in a cold voice: "These words are all your one-sided words! You mean, Princess Yongning and her husband colluded with the rebels? Do you know what this means? It means that they are collaborating with the enemy and selling out the country! You know what the crime of collaborating with the enemy and selling out the country is, right? Even if they are royal relatives, they cannot be forgiven easily if they are involved in this. You must think it through before you speak."
Master Li's heart was beating like a drum, but things had come to this point, and once the words were spoken, there was no way back. He had no other way to go.
After a pause, he pursed his lips and said again with certainty: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that if what I find out is true... then it will be a great threat to Your Majesty and the court..."
Emperor Yuanfeng's tone became more subtle: "Is that so?" He suddenly turned to Su Rong, who had not spoken a word the whole time: "Su Rong, what did that woman contact your sister to find out from you?"
Master Li Xiaojue winked at Su Rong.
He was not afraid that Su Rong would turn against him.
At this point, Su Rong was caught in a dilemma and was in a difficult position.
He could only follow the path he had arranged to get rid of the Su family.
Su Rong lowered his head and shook his head honestly: "Your Majesty, that woman is indeed somewhat familiar with my sister... My sister met her when she was in the charity hall..."
He cupped his hands cautiously and told the story of Su Yao's friendship with Li Saozi, and then said, "We only know that she is kind-hearted and treats the abandoned children in the charity hall well. Because of her kindness, my sister admires her a little bit, and after a few visits, they have become friends..."
Master Li felt something was not right after listening to this - Su Rong was being too long-winded. Why bother saying all these words? Wouldn't it be enough if he just insisted that it was Sister-in-law Li who was trying to get close to him
But now, in front of Emperor Yuanfeng, he had no way to interrupt, so he could only be patient, wishing Su Rong would speak faster.
Su Rong finally finished explaining the reasons, and then continued, "As for the identity of that woman and the rebel leader, we only found out about it when the young master came to our house late last night and told us. We were also very nervous about this... We were afraid that we couldn't explain it clearly, so we followed the young master into the palace."
Master Li Xiaojue's eyes suddenly looked at Su Rong. If looks could kill, Su Rong would have died countless times by now.
How could he not hear it
Su Rong's words seemed to be what he really said, but upon closer thought, that was not what he meant at all.
He suddenly became a little anxious. Seeing that Su Rong was getting more and more suspicious, he immediately raised his voice and said, "Master, didn't you say that the woman was suspicious and deliberately approached the county lady? Have you been suspicious of her for a long time?!"
Su Rong was very surprised: "Young Lord, I didn't say that. I don't know that woman. Even my sister, I have only met her a few times because of the charity hall... She is a native of Yunnan, and she wants to collude with the powerful in the court. Isn't that what you told us last night?"
... ...
Master Li's eyes were red with anger. He couldn't tell whether Su Rong was really stupid or just pretending to be stupid.
What he needed was Su Rong to tell the truth completely!
No!
If Su Rong was stupid, he wouldn't have been able to inherit the title again after lying dormant for so many years, so...
Then Su Rong said this on purpose...
For a moment, he wanted to jump up and call Su Rong an idiot, but now Emperor Yuanfeng was here. If he dared to do so, the first one to suffer would not be Su Rong or Princess Yongning's Mansion, but himself.
Things had come to this point, and Master Li Xiaojue had thousands of thoughts in his mind. He knew that he could only insist that Sister Li was in collusion with Princess Yongning's residence, so he simply made up his mind and took over the conversation firmly: "Your Majesty, the people I sent have been following that woman for a long time, and will never wrongly accuse her. Please understand!"